Cable harness with a water-sealing portion

ABSTRACT

A cable harness that has water-sealing properties includes a sheath that accommodates an ABS sensor cable and a parking brake cable. The ABS sensor cable and the parking brake cable branch apart at an end portion of the sheath. An integrally molded member includes, in an integrated manner, a water-sealing portion that seals the end portion of the sheath from water, and a bracket attachment portion that is attached to the bracket.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/531,277 filed Aug. 5, 2019, which is a divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/521,547 filed Apr. 24, 2017 which issued as U.S.Pat. No. 10,399,515 Sep. 3, 2019, which is a U.S. national stage ofPCT/JP2015/079799 filed Oct. 22, 2015, which claims priority of JapanesePatent Application No. JP 2014-223663 filed Oct. 31, 2014.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a cable harness.

BACKGROUND

Electric parking brake (EPB) mechanisms and antilock brake systems (ABS)are mounted in vehicles such as automobiles

A cable harness 100, as shown in FIG. 3, that includes a single sheath Sthat covers an EPB system cable 102 and an ABS sensor cable 101 has beendeveloped because the ABS sensor and the EPB mechanism are attached atpositions that are close to each other. There are cases where variouscables are connected in various types of systems including thatdescribed above (e.g. see JP 2013-237428A).

The cables 101 and 102 are to be connected to an ABS sensor 103 and theEPB mechanism respectively, and thus the cables 101 and 102 need to bebranched at a mid-point in the cable harness 100. At this time, thesheath S of the cable harness 100 is partially stripped, and thus thecables 101 and 102 are exposed. At this time, there is a concern ofwater infiltrating into the sheath S. Note that, in FIG. 3, pressfitting the cable 101 to a sensor head portion of the ABS sensor 103provides a water-sealing portion 103 a that acts as a water-sealingstructure that seals the ABS sensor 103 from water.

There are cases where a bracket for fixedly connecting a cable harnessto a mount portion in a vehicle or the like is used.

SUMMARY

The object of the present disclosure is to provide a cable harness withwhich the infiltration of water into the sheath can be suppressed whilean increase in the number of parts can be suppressed.

An aspect of the present disclosure is a cable harness that is providedwith a sheath that accommodates at least an ABS sensor electrical lineand a parking brake electrical line, the cable harness includes: anintegrally molded member that includes a water-sealing portion thatseals an end portion of the sheath where the ABS sensor electrical lineand the parking brake electrical line branch apart, from water; and abracket attachment portion to which a bracket is attached.

With this configuration, because the end portion of the sheath is sealedfrom water by the water-sealing portion, and the water-sealing portionand the bracket attachment portion are molded in one piece, an increasein the number of parts can be suppressed. Other facets and advantages ofthe present disclosure will be made clear from the drawings showingexamples of technical concepts of the present disclosure and thatdisclosed below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a cable harness according to anembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional diagram for illustrating awater-sealing structure of the cable harness shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional diagram of a cable harness according to areference example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of a cable harness will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 1, a cable harness 10 of the present embodiment isformed by an ABS sensor cable 11 and a parking brake cable 12 beingjointly covered by a sheath S and integrated with each other.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ABS sensor cable 11 and the parking brake cable12 branch apart at an end portion S1 of the sheath S.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the ABS sensor cable 11 is formed by twosignal lines 11 a. Each of the signal lines 11 a are conductors sheathedin an insulating body. The ABS sensor cable 11 is attached to an ABSsensor at an end thereof.

The parking brake cable 12 is used as an electrical conduction paththrough which a current flows, which mainly results from a pressingoperation being performed on a predetermined button after a vehicle hasbeen parked, the current causing a mechanism (electronic parking brake(EPB)) that is for suppressing rotation of vehicle wheels, to function.The parking brake cable 12 is for electrically connecting an EPB controlunit (omitted from the drawings) and an EPB mechanism. For this reason,the parking brake cable 12 has two power-source lines 12 a. Also,examples of the EPB mechanism include types where wires in aconventional parking brake mechanism are pulled by an actuator, andtypes where a dedicated electronic actuator is mounted to a hydraulicbrake caliper.

As described above, the sheath S of the cable harness 10 of the presentembodiment is configured by a so-called four-core electrical line, withthe two signal lines 11 a constituting the ABS sensor cable 11 and thetwo power-source lines 12 a constituting the parking break cable 12being accommodated therein.

Also, the cable harness 10 of the present embodiment is provided with amolded portion 20, which is a urethane resin member, at the end portionS1 of the sheath S. The molded portion 20 is a member in which awater-sealing portion 21 and a bracket attachment portion 22 are moldedin one piece using urethane molding.

The water-sealing portion 21 is formed to cover the region where the endportion S1 of the sheath S, the ABS sensor cable 11, and the parkingbrake cable 12 branch apart. The ABS sensor cable 11 is drawn out alongthe longitudinal direction of the sheath S, and the parking brake cable12 is drawn out so as to be orthogonal to the longitudinal direction ofthe sheath S and is covered by the water-sealing portion 21.

The bracket attachment portion 22 is molded in one piece with thewater-sealing portion 21, on a base end side relative to the end portionS1 of the sheath S, i.e. on a side opposite the region where the ABSsensor cable 11 and the parking brake cable 12 branch apart. The bracketattachment portion 22 has an approximately columnar shape, and a bracketB is crimped and fixed to the bracket attachment portion 22. Note thatthe bracket B can have a through-hole B1 for attachment. The bracket Band the cable harness 10 can be fixed to a vehicle by using thethrough-hole B1 and a fastening member such as a bolt.

Next, effects of the present embodiment will be described.

Signals detected by the ABS sensor are transmitted through the cableharness 10 of the present embodiment using the signal lines 11 a of theABS sensor cable 11. Furthermore, power is supplied to the EPB mechanismby the power-source lines 12 a of the parking brake cable 12.

Here, the cable harness 10 can suppress the infiltration of water intothe sheath S via the end portion S1 thereof because the water-sealingportion 21 covers the region where the end portion 51 of the sheath S,the ABS sensor cable 11, and the parking brake cable 12 branch apart.Also, because the water-sealing portion 21 is formed in one piece withthe bracket attachment portion 22 for attaching the bracket B to anunshown vehicle, an increase in the number of parts is suppressed.

Next, the effects of the present embodiment will be described.

(1) Because the water-sealing portion 21 and the bracket attachmentportion 22 are molded in one piece and the water-sealing portion 21 alsoseals the end portion 51 of the sheath S from water, an increase in thenumber of parts can be prevented.

(2) Compared with the case where a configuration is employed in whichthe bracket attachment portion and the water-sealing portion areseparate members, there is no particular need to provide a gap betweenthe bracket attachment portion 22 and the water sealing portion 21 asthey are molded in one piece, and therefore the size of the sheath S ofthe molded portion 20 can be suppressed in the longitudinal directionthereof.

(3) The directions in which the cables 11 and 12 are drawn out can befixed by the molded water-sealing portion 21. For example, the moldedportion 20 can include a first terminal 23 a that is terminated on thesheath S, a second terminal 23 b that is terminated on the ABS sensorcable 11, and a third terminal 23 c that is terminated on the parkingbrake cable 12. The second terminal 23 b and the third terminal 23 c canhave different angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of thesheath S (e.g. 00 and 90).

(4) The molded portion 20 may be a part that is made of a syntheticresin and has no joints. With this configuration, the water-sealingproperties of the molded portion 20 can be improved.

(5) The end portion S1 of the sheath S, a portion of the ABS sensorcable 11, and a portion of the parking brake cable 12 are embedded inthe molded portion 20. With this configuration, the water-sealingproperties of the molded portion 20 can be improved.

(6) It is preferable that the bracket attachment portion 22 covers thesheath S. With such a configuration, stress on the cables 11 and 12exposed from the sheath S can be mitigated.

(7) It is preferable that the bracket attachment portion 22 includes atleast one positioning stopper 22 a. With this configuration, positionalshifting of the bracket B can be mitigated. In another aspect, thebracket attachment portion 22 may include a recessed portion 22 bprovided on at least a portion of an outer peripheral surface of thebracket attachment portion 22.

Note that changes such as the following may be made to theabove-described embodiment.

In the above-described embodiment, a configuration is employed where thebracket B is crimped and fixed to the bracket attachment portion 22, butthere is no limit to this.

In the above-described embodiment, the cable harness 10 is configured bya so-called four-core electrical line, but there is no limit to this.For example, a configuration may be employed using a six-core electricalline that has six electrical lines (cables) in the sheath S of the cableharness 10. An example of a six-core electrical line includes anelectrical line where two active suspension electrical lines are passedthrough the sheath S of the cable harness 10 in addition to theabove-described four-core electrical line.

In the above-described embodiment, it is preferable that the material ofthe molded portion 20 that has the water-sealing portion 21 and thebracket attachment portion 22 is urethane resin, but a synthetic resinother than urethane resin can be used.

The above-described embodiment and variations thereof may beappropriately combined.

The present disclosure is not limited to that illustrated. For example,illustrated features are not to be interpreted as being essential to thepresent disclosure, and the subject matter of the present disclosure mayexist with fewer features than all of those of the specified embodimentthus disclosed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cable harness in which at least a signal lineand a power-source line are contained inside of a sheath, the cableharness comprising: a water-sealing portion that causes the signal lineand the power-line to branch apart in different drawing-out directionsat an end portion of the sheath, and that seals the end portion of thesheath from water is formed; a bracket attachment portion for attachinga bracket is integrally provided on the water-sealing portion; and arecessed portion disposed on at least a portion of an outer peripheralsurface of the bracket attachment portion.
 2. The cable harnessaccording to claim 1, wherein the bracket attachment portion is providedon the sheath.
 3. The cable harness according to claim 1, wherein thewater-sealing portion and the bracket attachment portion are integrallyformed of urethane.
 4. The cable harness according to claim 3, whereinan electrical line separate from the signal line and the power-sourceline is further contained inside of the sheath.
 5. The cable harnessaccording to claim 4, wherein the electrical line includes twoelectrical lines for active suspension.
 6. The cable harness accordingto claim 1, wherein the signal line is an ABS sensor cable.
 7. The cableharness according to claim 1, wherein the power-source line is a parkingbrake cable.
 8. The cable harness according to claim 1, wherein thedifferent drawing-out directions are directions in which the signal lineand the power-source line intersect each other.